Ostoja Mijailović to Sportal on Whether the New ABA League Season Will Start on Time: Referee Application Deadline Passed...
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However, ABA League President Ostoja Mijailović told Sportal he hopes the ABA League will start on time, with Budućnost and Cibona, as well as Zadar and Bosna, hitting the court on Friday, September 25th.
"I deeply believe the ABA League season will start on time. Referees who wished to officiate next season had until 5 PM today to apply to the ABA League. At yesterday's working meeting of the ABA League, attended by representatives of all co-owner clubs, a unanimous decision was made to issue a final call to all interested referees who wish to officiate in the ABA League. It is crucial to emphasize that all 12 club representatives unanimously supported this decision." - Ostoja Mijailović
Chaos Between Referees and ABA League: What Happened?
After the league management rejected the demands of the Referees' Association and opened applications for new officials, a strong reaction followed. Five owner clubs – KK Crvena zvezda Meridianbet, KK Mega, KK Igokea, KK Krka, and KK Zadar – issued a joint, impactful statement directly accusing the League Presidency (comprising Partizan, Budućnost, and Cedevita Olimpija) of authoritarianism, withholding information, and deliberately undermining the competition's quality!
In a statement that shook the entire basketball public from Belgrade to Zadar, the five clubs clearly underlined that they refuse to bear responsibility for the misguided decisions of a small number of individuals currently running the league.
They directly pointed fingers at the current Presidency and the previous management, noting that the newly appointed sports director and commissioner for officiating are exempt from this criticism as they were not involved in the prior questionable actions.
"For months, we have warned that key issues for the functioning of the ABA League cannot be resolved without full transparency towards the owners and without respecting the competencies of the League's bodies. Instead, the Presidency has repeatedly taken it upon itself to make decisions that do not fall within its jurisdiction, while owners were not provided with essential information in a timely manner. The latest example is the referee list – at yesterday's meeting at 12 PM, officiating was discussed, but the list of applied referees was only delivered to us after the meeting concluded! Such a way of managing the League is absolutely unacceptable to us!" - Statement from the five clubs
A particularly concerning piece of information that surfaced was the intention of certain clubs within the Presidency to remove the highest-quality officials from the region from the list!
Representatives of the five dissatisfied clubs labeled this move as a direct blow to the regularity of a competition in which millions of euros are invested.
"It is particularly alarming that representatives of the clubs from the Presidency expressed opposition to engaging referees who also officiate in the EuroLeague! There is no rational reason for the ABA League to deprive itself of officials whose quality and credentials meet the standards of the highest European club competition. We do not accept a concept where the quality of officiating is lowered and the credibility of the league is jeopardized due to the decisions of a small number of people!" - Statement from the five clubs
After reviewing the list of newly applied officials from the open call, the signatory clubs emphasize that their experience is nowhere near sufficient for the demands of a league where clubs invest tens of millions of euros.
Understanding that only a few days remain until the start of the championship and that the consequences for regional basketball could be irreparable, Zvezda, Mega, Igokea, Krka, and Zadar offered the only reasonable and urgent solution.
Recalling the letter sent by 63 current ABA League referees as an open offer for dialogue, the five clubs demand an immediate meeting:
Immediate Demand: An official meeting of all 12 ABA League owner clubs with the referees who have officiated the competition so far must be organized as early as tomorrow.
No Intermediaries: All owners must attend the meeting in person. Not the Presidency on behalf of the owners, not individual clubs on behalf of the League, but all 12 owners at the same table!
Meeting Goal: Open discussion of all issues and reaching an agreement that will allow the ABA League to start at full capacity and with the best available officiating staff.
"This is no longer just about the referee organization. It's about the regularity, sporting integrity, quality, and credibility of the entire competition. As owners, we have an obligation to react before the consequences become irreparable!" - Statement from the five clubs
ABA League Round 1 Schedule
VIDEO: Zvezda's Training Session Before Zalgiris – What the Red and Whites Focused On
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